{"id":14360,"date":"2016-04-12T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=14360"},"modified":"2016-04-12T11:00:15","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T16:00:15","slug":"espionage-files-cia-funds-cosmetics-that-can-collect-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/12\/espionage-files-cia-funds-cosmetics-that-can-collect-dna\/","title":{"rendered":"Espionage Files: CIA Funds Cosmetics That Can Collect DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"clearista-4\"<\/p>\n

SKINCENTIAL SCIENCES<\/u>, a\u00a0company with an innovative line of\u00a0cosmetic products\u00a0marketed as a way to erase\u00a0blemishes and soften skin, has caught the attention of beauty<\/a> bloggers<\/a> on YouTube, Oprah\u2019s lifestyle magazine<\/a>, and celebrity skin care professionals<\/a>. Documents obtained by The Intercept<\/em> reveal that the firm has\u00a0also attracted interest and funding from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency.<\/p>\n

The previously undisclosed relationship with the CIA might come as some surprise to a visitor to the website of Clearista<\/a>, the main product line of Skincential Sciences, which boasts<\/a> of a \u201cformula so you can feel confident and beautiful in your skin\u2019s most natural state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the public-facing side of the company touts a range of skin care products, Skincential Sciences developed a patented technology that removes a thin outer layer of the skin, revealing unique biomarkers that can be used for a variety of diagnostic tests, including DNA collection.<\/p>\n

Skincential Science\u2019s\u00a0noninvasive procedure, described on the Clearista website as \u201cpainless<\/a>,\u201d is said to require only water, a special detergent, and a few brushes against the skin, making it\u00a0a convenient option for\u00a0restoring the glow of a youthful complexion \u2014 and a novel technique for gathering information about a person\u2019s biochemistry.<\/p>\n

In-Q-Tel, founded in 1999 by then-CIA Director George Tenet,\u00a0identifies cutting-edge technology to\u00a0support the mission of the CIA and other intelligence agencies, and provides venture funding to help\u00a0grow tech firms to develop\u00a0those solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur company is an outlier for In-Q-Tel,\u201d Russ Lebovitz, the chief executive of Skincential Sciences, said during an interview with The Intercept<\/em>. He conceded that the relationship might make for \u201can unusual and interesting story,\u201d but said,\u00a0\u201cI<\/span>f there\u2019s something beneath the surface, that\u2019s not part of our relationship and I\u2019m not directly aware. They\u2019re interested here in something that can get easy access to biomarkers.\u201d
\n<\/span>
\nStill, Lebovitz claimed he has limited knowledge of why In-Q-Tel selected his firm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how everyone works with In-Q-Tel, but they are very interested in doing things that are pure science,\u201d Lebovitz said. The CIA fund approached his company, telling him the fund\u00a0shares an interest in\u00a0looking at DNA extraction using the method pioneered by Skincential Sciences, according to Lebovitz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the Remainder at The Intercept<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SKINCENTIAL SCIENCES, a\u00a0company with an innovative line of\u00a0cosmetic products\u00a0marketed as a way to erase\u00a0blemishes and soften skin, has caught the attention of beauty bloggers on YouTube, Oprah\u2019s lifestyle magazine, and celebrity skin care professionals. Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that the firm has\u00a0also attracted interest and funding from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2908,1725,4880,65,3712,10],"tags":[11114,11115,11116,11117,2243],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14360"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}